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Everything on the east side of the Anacostia River has high crime except for Bolling Air Force Base. Most of Northeast Washington has high crime except for certain niche areas like Catholic University and the gentrified Capitol Hill areas. Once you get too close to H Street NE near Capitol Hill you are taking a degree of risk. In Northwest, the Shaw neighborhood and several of the neighborhoods to the north are risky. Very generally, west of 16th Street NW is safe as are neighborhoods around Logan Circle and downtown. East of 16th Street NW, not including downtown or Logan Circle, is risky. Southwest DC has dangerous neighborhoods. Beware roads like Benning Road, Bladensburg Road, Alabama Ave, Martin Luther King Ave, Minnesota Ave, most of East Capitol Street, Sheriff Road, most of Rhode Island and New York Ave, South Dakota Ave, Missouri Ave, Kansas Ave, much of Michigan Ave and much of New Hampshire Ave unless you are in your vehicle.

It depends on what you consider a "high crime" neighborhood. You can get victemized or killed in some neighborhoods just like anywhere else. Personaly I think most crimes in D.C. are committed in the White House Hood and on the Hill Hood, and people around the world would agree. Some thug in the poor hood can't create nearly as much chaos.

It seems that one poster here has given you actual streets. There are definitely terrible neighborhoods to avoid. I have driven through them by making the wrong turn and it was not nice. When I say bad, I mean real slums that look like the war was being fought there instead of in Iraq. Since I wound up there because I was lost, I can't tell you street names.
If you stay and sightsee in the area where all the attractions are: the mall, white house, etc... they are fine. I would taxi in the evenings back to the hotel after dinner. I would not hesitate to ride the metro during the day.
I would write down Shane's list of streets to avoid and take the same precautions you would in any city.

I wanted to add that I have always felt safe riding the DC Metro, even when alone at night. Usually when I travel to DC on business I stay in the Hyatt across from the convention center, have walked from there to Chinatown at night, no problems. Just be alert, use sensible precautions and you will be fine.

The fact is you most likely won't encounter any neighborhoods in which you'll be in any real danger. All of the main attractions are in very safe areas. The perception of danger in DC is usually greater than the reality with violent crimes almost always involving extenuating circumstances. Also, Joyce is right. The Metro is very safe at all hours regardless of where you are.